Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Create A Successful Online Website

Successful websites require an organized effort.


To build a successful website you will need to plan in focusing your efforts toward your goal. Success on the Internet does not happen by accident. Several key steps must be followed in creating a website. By paying particular attention to these steps you can help improve the odds of your site’s success.


Instructions


Create a Successful Website


1. Register a domain name. Your domain name is an important part of your site. Be sure to select a domain name that is related to your content. Not only does this make it easier for users to figure out what your site is about, but also it makes it easier for search engines to find your site and categorize it correctly. Be sure to avoid Internet scams when you register your domain name. The web is overrun with unscrupulous companies looking to rip you off. Be sure to buy your domain name from a reputable company that you trust. One trustworthy site to buy from is Google. Go to the Google site listed in Resources 2. Click "I want to buy a domain name" and then follow the process. By purchasing through Google you can rest assured that you are not buying into a scam.


2. Select a web host. A web host is a company that rents space on the web on which to put your website. The host also provides you with bandwidth to transmit your site to your users. Your web host account will allow you to transfer files to and from the host's server. It should also provide you with usage reports and error reports. Free hosting sites are available but should be avoided if you are building a professional website. Free sites often do not have the features necessary to manage your site. Free hosts have a habit of placing ads on your site that make it look unprofessional in addition to offering an opportunity to steal potential income that you could be making from you own ads. See Resources 1 to begin research in locating a web host.


3. Build content for your site. After you have launched your site be sure to update it regularly. Users will return to your site often if they know they will see new content each time they come back. Also, make sure you have enough content on your site to provide your users a satisfying experience. Lack of content will cause users to lose interest and browse other sites.








4. Optimize your site for search engines. Once your site has a hosting location and domain name you need to generate traffic. Most users will find your site through a search engine. The higher your site is ranked by the search engine service, the more likely it will come up when someone performs a search. To optimize for search engines be sure to pay attention to the words that you use on your site. Search engines use what is called a web crawler, which reads your page and catalogs the relevant words, called "keywords." You want to be sure that the keywords on your page correctly match your intended content. Pay special attention to the keywords in your page titles. Make sure you have chosen a domain name that includes useful keywords as well. Also, ensure that the metadata for your site is rich with relevant keywords. Use different variations of your keywords--this technique is called keyword stemming.








5. Launch a promotional effort for your site. The more external links that point to your site the higher your site will be ranked by search engines. By submitting your site to website directories you can get some rank boosting external links. Site directories are hierarchical listings of sites by category. The Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.com) and Yahoo! Directory (dir.yahoo.com) are examples of site directories.

Tags: your site, domain name, search engines, your page, company that